in Ireland, was counterfeited in Ireland, and brought over from thence by her, in April or May last; and that she neither hath, or ever had, any husband called by the name of Robert Green; but that all in the same certificate mentioned concerning him is counterfeit ; and that the person, who is now in her company, came with her out of Ireland, and that he is her brother, and his name is Robert Hutt; and that they came together to London, where, in the square at Essex-stairs, she met with one, whose name she doth not now remember, that writ the petition, which she carried to Windsor, and, with her own hands, presented it to the king, who delivered it back to one Mr. Bolstred, without any further answer to it. Whereupon she repaired to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and shewed him her counterfeit certificate from the Bishop of Elphin; and he, having viewed it, recommended it to Sir John Nicholas, to whom she repaired accordingly, and shewed him the petition which she had delivered to his majesty, and left it with him; and afterwards (as he told this informant) he carried the same to his majesty at Hampton-court and that, it being read, because it concerned Ireland, the king recommended it to the Duke of Ormond, and afterwards this informant had the answer to it from him, mentioned in the paper to which Sir John Nicholas's name is subscribed. And further saith, that the paper to which the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London's hands and seals are set, is also counterfeit, and was written by another person, whose name she remembereth not; and that the same person did set the Archbishop and Bishop of London's hands and seals to it: and saith that, by vertue of the said paper and seals, she and her brother have gathered a great deal of money, and thereby abused many of the king's subjects. MARY HUTT. The Information of the said Robert Hutt, taken before us the Day and Year abovesaid. WHO saith, that the said Mary Hutt (who goes by the names aforesaid) is his sister; and that he never knew any person by the name of Green or Young, that was her husband; but says, that he living in or about Cork in Ireland, and she in Connaught, above an hundred miles distant, in March last she came to this informant's house, and told him, that she had been married to one Green, a clergyman, and that he, going to sea, was taken by the Turks, and she was going to London to petition his majesty for money for his release; and that she had a certificate from the bishop of the diocese of the truth thereof, and thereupon desired this informant to go along with her, and pressed him so hard therein, that at last he left his own occasions with a friend, and went with her to London, by the name of Green, and knew no other name she had; and at London carried her to one William Youngs a drummer, living in Petty-France, beyond Westminster, near the sign of Whitehall, where they stayed all the time they were about London; and during that time she went to Windsor to petition his majesty; and, finding no satisfaction there, she applied herself to the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London, Sir John Nicholas, and others, as in her said information is set down. But saith, that he knew nothing how she came by the said certificates and papers, or who drew her petitions, he knows not. But saith, that upon and with them he hath gone about the country with her, and hath collected several sums of money in several countries in the papers thereof mentioned, he not knowing but all her papers and certificates were true. Martin Spensley, Mayor. ROBERT HUTT. The further Information and Examination of the said Robert Hutt, taken the Day and Year abovesaid. * T HE said examinate saith, that his name is Robert Young, not Hutt, and that the said Mary is his wife; and that they came out of Ireland at the same time aforementioned; and that he is in priest's orders according to the church of England, and received the same from Dr. Roan, Bishop of Killaloo in Ireland, and had a cure of 18 pounds per annum at Calthorn there, and that he hath preached in St. Margaret's church in Westminster; and confesseth, that all the papers and certificates aforesaid are counterfeit, and were made by one Wright, a scrivener in Oxford; and he set the hands and seals to them, except that from the Bishop of Elphin in Ireland, which is signed by Thomas Bannester, and was made by him; and he obtained the bishop's seal to it, for which he had ten shillings. And further, that, about two years since, he was in England, and applied himself to the Archbishop of Canterbury for some preferment, and dined with him; but, finding none, he returned into Ireland; and, being destitute of friends, he applied himself to this ill course, presuming thereby to obtain charity from the people. And further saith, that the said Wright set Sir John Nicholas's hand, in answer to the petition to the king; and for that, and for setting the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London, he had a guinea. Thom. Holland. Rob. Sharp. ROBERT YOUNG, Clerk. Secondly, Here are copies of Mary Hutt's petition to King Charles the Second, under the feigned name of Mary Green; and of the forged reference and recommendations upon it. I am certainly informed, that there never was one Wright, scrivener, in Oxford: so that he has abused the name of Wright, as he has done that of Green, Jones, Smith, and divers others. To the King's most excellent Majesty, and the Right Honourable Lords of His Majesty's most Honourable Privy-Council, The humble Petition of Mary Green, Wife of Robert Green, of the Kingdom of Ireland, most humbly sheweth, THAT, your petitioner's said husband being minded to take a voyage into the West-Indies upon some extraordinary occasions, it was his hard fortune to be taken by a Sallee man of war, about six months since, as may appear by a certificate under the hand and seal of the Right Reverend Father in God, the Lord Bishop of Elphin in the kingdom of Ireland; and that he still remains under the extreme burthen of slavery in Sallee, his ransom being set at a thousand dollars; which your petitioner, in regard of her great poverty, is no ways able to raise; she having two small children, being with child of a third, hath not wherewith to provide for herself and them, but is like to perish, for want of relief. Your petitioner therefore most humbly prays, that your majesty will be graciously pleased to recommend your petitioner's and her husband's distressed condition to the consideration of the clergy of England; and, in his behalf, to request them to contribute their charity towards her husband's ransom, and your petitioner's present relief. THE And your petitioner shall ever pray, &c. Read in Counil, Jun. 18, 1684. HE petitioner is referred to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop of London, to do therein, as to them shall seem meet and convenient, for the redemption of this said Robert Green, Clerk. JOHN NICHOLAS. WE E recommend the petitioner to the clergy of (provided this our order continue no longer than three months) England, intreating them freely to contribute their charity toward the ransom of the said Robert Green. Moreover (on his majesty's command to us) we require, and earnestly desire the respective ministers of all cities, towns, &c. to go from house to house, to receive the charitable benevolence of well disposed christians, whom we hope will likewise contribute to the enlargement of a poor distressed clergy-man. Given under our hand and seal, at Lambeth-House, June 16, 1684. Numb. III. Robert Young's Petition to the Magistrates at Bury, acknowledging his Crime. To the Worshipful Mayor, and the rest of the Justices for the Borough of Bury St. Edmonds. The humble Petition of Robert Youngs, Clerk. SHEWETH, THAT HAT the petitioner not only sensible, as it is apparent, of his bidding adieu to all truth and honesty, and measuring the same by his own humorsome fancy, making every thing ridiculous, that was not suitable to his owne ignorant conceptions; but penitent likewise, thinking himself bound, for the future, to take a notice, that honesty is the best policy. Forasmuch therefore, as your poor suppliant being a stranger, and such to most in this kingdom, and having little or no friends or acquentance, humbly beseecheth, That your worshipes will be graciously pleased to accept of such baile, as your poor suppliant can conveniently produce, whereby he may not in a goal be compelled to end his days, but have his liberty to compose those differences, now depending. The lord create in your worships bowells of compassion, towards him, who prays for, Your, &c. Next, here is Robert Young's first letter to the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1684, confessing his crime of forgery; but, in all else, giving a very lying account of himself. A letter very singular for the elegancy of its stile; and recommended to the reading of all who call themselves presbyterians. Numb. IV. Bury, Sept. 30, 1684. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR GRACE, THI HIS rude and imperfect supplication, being now to pass into your grace's hands, shal I be so bold as to begg your grace to peruse it in prosecution whereof, I do conceive my birth and education, wil in your grace create a better understanding of me, my life and conversation, than that which the envyous man realy represents it to be: for envy is ever working upon some or other; for which cause, it is the proper attribute of the devill, who is called the envious man, that soweth tares amongst the wheat by night. But to return, your poor suppliant is (by birth) an Englishman, born of an honest stock, at Chester, a town of marchandize on the sea-coast of England, whose grandfather was Sir Peter Young's son, and grandmother the Duke of Lenox's daughter; the truth whereof, if questioned, may sufficiently, by a gentleman in London, be proved: knowing some persons to delight in giddiness, and accounts it a bondage to fix a belief, afecting freewill in thinking as well as in doing. Your poor suppliant likewise (after some knowledge in schoole learning) was removed to Trinity Colledge near Dublin; where, in good litterature, he for the space of seven years remained: and, from thence, by the instigation of Dr. Smith, Dean of Limerick, was employed as a reader; which duty by me was faithfully performed, for the space of two years, being then only a deacon. From thence, by the death of the said Dr. Smith, removed I was to serve Dr. John Wilson's cure, sometime Fellow of St. Magdalene College in Oxford, who, as chaplain to his grace my Lord Duke of Ormond, came for Ireland, on which provision (though inconsiderable) admitted I was into full orders, by the late Bishop of Clogher, who was a man of that divine nature, that all that knew him had a loss of him: the very memory of whom may justly draw a fountain of water from mine eyes; his favour to me ward cannot easily be forgotten. Thus, in short, your grace has a description of my birth, education, life, and conversation; which leads me to expostulate my present sufferings. I am, and ever was, a faithfull son to the church of England. All discentors were ever odious in mine eyes, 'specially that damnable faction of Presbytery. If I could, as well as others, have winked at their irregular undertakings, poverty and bondage would not now have dominion over me. But my method was to reduce such factious persons to a regular understanding, and observe wherein, and how far, they have degenerated; although others gleanings, I confess, are better than my vintage, as I am the least of the tribe yet, I cannot sit still, but, if occasion offered itself, would once more adventure to cast in my mite against such hæresy, as those gifted persons pretended to. But, knowing to whom I speak, I must not hold your grace too long to peruse this ignorant discourse, least I give offence. Lastly, to make an ingenious confession, your poor suppliant in the aforesaid cure, though insufficient if narrowly considered to maintain a family, continued without scandal and corruption, for the space of four years; but by the insufficiency thereof, being but eighteen pound per annum, was forced to borrow money, which summ, at the day prefixed, I could not disburss; whereupon they issued out writs against me but I considering fortune to be like the markett, where, if a man stay a little, the price will fall. Thus I thought it better to meet some danger half way, than to keep too long a watch upon my enemies approach: for, if a man watch too long, as my case stood, though he commit the beginnings thereof to Argos, with his hundred eyes; and the ends to Briareus, with his hundred hands, tis odds he will fall asleep so that I thought it my best way, for a time, to remove myself and family, to prevent future inconveniencies. Whereupon I, with a discontented heart, came for England; and, if your grace call to mind, made to you my application. Willing was I to take up with the least provision: but no vacancy in your grace's diocess, was the answer; and withal told me that my lord of London possibly might answer to my request. Whereupon I strait way attended my lord of London, but no satisfactory answer could I find there. On which, what : |